In a Friday telephone conversation, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and the UN special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, discussed the latest developments in Syria following the conclusion of the latest round of Syria peace talks in the Swiss city of Geneva.

Amir-Abdollahian also commended the UN envoy’s bids to solve the Syrian crisis through political approaches and stressed the importance of holding intra-Syrian dialog.

The Iranian diplomat further criticized efforts by some known terrorist figures to attend the Geneva talks, saying such moves would be detrimental to the political process in Syria.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian (R) and UN special envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura

The UN envoy, for his part, hailed Iran’s fight against terrorism in Syria and its support for finding a political solution to the conflict in the Arab country.

De Mistura added that the UN would make more efforts to send humanitarian aid to the Syrian people.

The UN-brokered peace talks, aimed at resolving the five-year crisis in Syria, resumed in Geneva on March 14.

Syria's ambassador to the United Nations Bashar al-Jaafari, who also heads the government delegation to the negotiations, assessed on Friday as useful the latest session of talks between the Syrian government's delegation with de Mistura, saying the talks focused on the basic principles of a political transition in Syria.

The first round of the discussions was halted on February 3 after the opposition refused to continue the talks.

Syria has been grappling with foreign-backed militancy since March 2011. More than 470,000 people have been killed in the past five years of turmoil in Syria, according to a February report by the Syrian Center for Policy Research; Press TV reported.

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